As the DPP's New Tide faction is the first and only faction to come out and advocate a different approach to that contained in the president's New Year speech, faction members yesterday did not seem to be impressed by the explanation offered by National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁).
DPP Legislator Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠) called for more transparency in the president's decision-making process, saying that setting government policies without consulting party members was bound to cause a backlash.
Although Shen said that he agrees with Chiou that it is inappropriate for faction members to use such expressions as "one-person decision-making" to criticize the president, Shen said that he is afraid that Chiou knows little about what faction members think because Chiou has shunned factional activities for a long time.
Shen said that he hopes the incident will serve as an opportunity for policy makers to realize that thorough discussion of major government policies is very important during the decision-making process.
Another faction member, Liu Shih-fang (
Liu said that the association would also publish a quarterly discussing cross-strait issues.
"The association has nothing to do with the president's New Year address and is not politically motivated," Liu said. "We just want more young scholars who are interested in cross-strait studies and identify with the party to join the association because the party desperately needs people specialized in cross-strait matters."
While the government is unlikely to accept the offer of two pandas from China, another faction member, Lin Wuei-chou (
"Pandas are not missiles or a Trojan horse. Why does the government have to make a mountain out of a mole hill?" he said. "Rejecting the pandas only shows that we are afraid of them."
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
PROCEDURE: Although there is already a cross-strait agreement in place for the extradition of criminals, ample notice is meant to be given to the other side first Ten Taiwanese who were involved in fraud-related crimes in China were extradited back to Taiwan via Kinmen County on Wednesday, four of whom are convicted fraudsters in Taiwan. The 10 people arrived via a ferry operating between Xiamen and Kinmen, also known as the “small three links.” The Kinmen County Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said that four of the 10 extradited people were convicted in Taiwan for committing fraud and contravening the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), and were on the wanted list. They were immediately arrested upon arrival and sent to Kinmen Prison to serve their sentences following brief questioning, the office said.
PROBLEMATIC APP: Citing more than 1,000 fraud cases, the government is taking the app down for a year, but opposition voices are calling it censorship Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday decried a government plan to suspend access to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (小紅書) for one year as censorship, while the Presidential Office backed the plan. The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday cited security risks and accusations that the Instagram-like app, known as Rednote in English, had figured in more than 1,700 fraud cases since last year. The company, which has about 3 million users in Taiwan, has not yet responded to requests for comment. “Many people online are already asking ‘How to climb over the firewall to access Xiaohongshu,’” Cheng posted on
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
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